Lain Ruch Downs, Executive Director

The Centre, P.C.

Subscribe to our Newsletter

DJ Construction, Jenkins Automotive Have Ribbon-Cutting

Kendallville – October 9, 2014 – Jenkins Automotive, Kendallville’s NAPA Store, announces the completion of a new 6,000 sq. ft. retail store built by DJ Construction of Goshen. The new building is located at 501 West North Street.

Jenkins Automotive/NAPA currently is open for business in the new location.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony will take place Friday, October 17 at 9:00 a.m. to mark the official opening of the store, and a Grand Opening Celebration will take place all day on Saturday, October 25.

Rick Jenkins, President of Jenkins Automotive, said the move to a larger store was motivated by growing sales and increased visibility. “While we are pleased with the sales progress we’ve seen, we really needed a more visible presence in the Kendallville market because many people didn’t know where we were,” said Jenkins. He purchased the Kendallville NAPA store in November of 2012 and has been very pleased with the reception received by the community.

Steve German, Store Manager, said, “Kendallville is a great place to do business and we look to expand on the growth we’ve seen in the last two years.”

In addition to the new store, Jenkins said the store will increase its hours of operation by staying open until 8:00 Monday through Friday and until 5:00 on Saturday. They will be closed Sundays.

Pete Garber, client representative for DJ Construction, said this project is the second project DJ and Jenkins have partnered on. The first project was a joint venture of Jenkins Automotive/NAPA with Monteith Tire in Middlebury.

“It’s a pleasure working with Rick Jenkins and his team,” said Garber. “They were very committed to this project. There were a number of hurdles that developed in the planning phase that could have stopped the project, but Rick was committed to making it happen.”

Rick Jenkins bought his first NAPA store from his father Gilbert in 1975 and has grown to eight locations in Northern Indiana with over seventy employees. “We have great people, a great product and great customers. All three add up to a successful operation,” Jenkins said. Their stores not only cover the Car Repair market but also serve the Farm, Heavy Duty Fleet, Collision Repair, Industrial and Marine markets.